


The Grass is Greener on the Other Side

by iwillsithereandtrytocontribute



Category: Rusty Quill Gaming (Podcast)
Genre: Everybody Lives, Fix-It, Gen, Implied/Referenced Character Death, except for like... bertie because yeah, no betas we die like lads and/or blokes
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-03
Updated: 2021-02-03
Packaged: 2021-03-14 07:01:20
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,233
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29166879
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/iwillsithereandtrytocontribute/pseuds/iwillsithereandtrytocontribute
Summary: She didn't say zero.
Comments: 2
Kudos: 14
Collections: RQW Gift Exchange Jan. 2021





	The Grass is Greener on the Other Side

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Splashattack](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Splashattack/gifts).



> A gift for the wonderful @Splashattack! I tried for fluff I really did... Enjoy ت

“Again,” Azu demanded, pacing the floor in front of the ornately decorated door.

“Azu…” Hamid was breathing heavily, as were Curie and the other wizards around the circle. They had been casting the same, extraordinarily difficult spell multiple times a day for over a week now. 

“Again. We have to.” Azu pivoted on the balls of her feet and strode across the stone floor. She turned just enough so that Hamid could see the tears running freely down her face.

“Azu, we’re exhausted. Maybe tomorrow-”

“One more time.” Azu turned to face Hamid directly. “One more time. Please,” she pleaded, actually clasping her hands and shaking them. “You said there was a chance.” Azu looked at Curie, whose stone gaze had shifted into pity. She nodded once.

They began the spell again. It was song and chant and incantation rolled into one, a plea, demand, and cajole of the gods and the universe itself. It was a spell of Hamid and Curie’s own design with Einstein’s input, made to reach across planes and time, but in itself, at its core, a finding spell. Each magic-user knew each step of this dangerous dance to its shortest beat, They weaved their voices, hands, and magic together. The sigils and marks carved into the door in the center of all of them glowed with a thousand colors and lights.

Azu could do nothing but watch and send prayers to Aphrodite, holding her pendant close to her chest. This would work, it  _ had  _ to work. One of these times.  _ “She didn’t say zero.”  _ Hamid’s words echoed inside her mind. She could feel his hands around her waist, his body pressed up against her leg as tightly coiled as a spring. She remembered how they’d broken down together in that room afterwards and how they couldn’t bear sleeping alone for weeks later. They would find Sasha and Grizzop. They’d saved the world more times than they could count, they could do this.

The spell was coming to a close, the chant dying down and the lights fading. The glowing rainbow of the marks on the door were the last to fade. There was silence in the stone chamber. A couple of the wizards dropped to the floor, either seated or simply in exhausted heaps. Hamid stumbled as he made his way to a bench by the wall, even Curie was wobbly in her walk as she went to join him. 

Azu closed her eyes tightly and sighed. Not today. She gathered her ax from the doorway and gripped tightly to the pendant around her neck again. She gave a Hamid a gentle pat on the shoulder, mostly to tell him she was leaving. He gave her a small smile, too tired to even say goodbye. 

She practically had her foot outside the door when they heard the knock. It was small, not very hard, and tentative as though the owner wasn’t sure what to make of the door. A very fair assessment considering it had likely appeared out of thin air. 

To say Azu flew across the floor would be an understatement. Hamid wasn’t sure her feet touched the ground once as she dashed across the room to the door connected to nothing but a frame. He was on her tail, tired as he was. Azu stopped just short of the door and reached out with a trembling hand.

Slowly, so slowly she turned the knob. 

Sasha and Grizzop were standing there. Behind them, a luxurious hallway that they faintly remembered seeing derelict and half rubble back in Rome. Azu gathered them into a huge hug, pulling them through the door.

Grizzop melted into it, wrapping his arms around as much of Azu as he could reach. His eyes were shut tight and he was smiling. Sasha was a bit more reluctant, waiting until the hug was over and Azu was holding them back to look at them better before patting Azu’s arm. From Sasha, that was as good as the heartiest hug. 

Azu and Hamid were crying freely. Azu, so hard that she couldn’t even speak. Hamid, just enough that he couldn’t remember to.

“Are- are you guys alright?” Sasha asked tentatively. She activated her wrist sheaths, thrusting them into her hands, and took a fighting stance. “Are we fighting someone? You need me to stab something? I can-”

Hamid stopped her with a hug. “We’re just happy you’re back.”

Grizzop rubbed the back of his head and tilted it to the side in confusion. “We’ve only been gone for maybe an hour. Did we- oh.” He looked around at the unadorned stone walls and the wizards in various states of exhaustion around them.

“What?” Sasha asked. “Did we  _ what  _ ? You just stopped talking. You alright, Grizzop?”

“I’m fine. Just look around.” Grizzop nodded at the room. “This isn’t Rome is it?”

Azu shook her head, still too choked up to speak. Hamid piped up. “You’ve been gone for a long time.”

“Oh.” Sasha looked down at the knives in her hand, flicking them back into their place. She kept her gaze down for far longer than necessary. She still wasn’t looking at them when she asked, “How long?”

“Two years,” Azu said finally. 

“Two ye _ \-  _ ” Grizzop sputtered. “  _ Two years  _ ?”

“Three if you count the time we were gone,” Hamid added after a moment.

“Right yes,” Azu acknowledged, slightly calmer now that she’d confirmed Sasha and Grizzop weren’t a desperation and exhaustion-fueled illusion.

“Three years? The Simulacrum, did you-” Sasha looked up now, fear in her eyes. “Are we going to walk out there to an apocalypse?”

Hamid put his hand in Sasha’s. “We took care of it.”

Sasha’s shoulders sagged with relief for a moment, before tensing again. “And Other London, is it?”

“Safe.”

“Beaming Gusset?”

“Safe.”

Sasha hugged Hamid awkwardly, as she did most things related to people other than stabbing them. “Thank you,” she whispered.

Grizzop coughed into his hand. “Is uh- is Vesseek alright?”

Azu smiled. “They’re alright. Excellent, in fact. Vesseek is quite the fighter. They assisted Emeka in defending Cairo.”

Grizzop nodded with a satisfied smile. “Doesn’t surprise me. I’ll have to talk to them.”

Azu returned the smile. “We’ll take you there soon. There’s some,” she hesitated, “stuff we have to tell you first.”

“What stuff?” Sasha asked, standing next to Grizzop, Hamid by her side. 

Azu looked between Sasha and Grizzop, mouth opening and closing. “Hamid help.”

Hamid tried to smile. It didn’t work as well as he hoped. “It’s alright. Let’s get into the house and talk about it there.” The smile grew a little more genuine. “There’s some people you need to meet.”

Sasha and Grizzop followed Azu and Hamid out of the basement, nodding to Curie on their way. She didn’t smile, but something in her eyes had softened when she looked at Sasha. 

Cel was waiting at the door of the cabin, bouncing on their feet. They rushed outside when they saw the group on the path. “They’re here!” Cel called over their shoulder as they dashed through the doorway. “Oh my goodness this is so exciting,” they muttered. “Quick Cel, checklist. Are you bipedal right now? Yes? Fantastic! Hair? Amazing. Goggles? Of course. Coat? Potions? Yes and yes! Excellent! Hello!” they called offering their hand to Grizzop. Grizzop shook it, giving Azu and Hamid a look as if to say “Who  _ is  _ this?”

Cel offered their hand to Sasha, who just stared at it. Not one to be shaken by something as trivial as that they retracted it and greeted everyone again. “Hi! I’m Cel, they/them, and you must be Grizzop and Sasha! I’ve heard so much about you guys! I even helped make the door that found you. I heard you make bombs,” they said turning to Sasha. “I just love explosions! Especially fireworks, but really all kinds are fascinating. And I’ve heard so much about Other London, I’m sure there’s a ton you could teach me!” Sasha blinked. “And trust me I-”

“Cel?” Azu cut in.

“Yeah?”

“Maybe give them a bit of a moment to breath. They just got back.”

“Right, yes. Of course. We’ll talk later,” Cel said with a wink. They turned abruptly, coat trailing in the breeze and returned to the cabin. 

“You’ll have to forgive Cel,” Hamid replied with a grin. “They’re excited about just about everything and flirt with everyone that looks their way.”

Sasha nodded, smiling softly. “They- uh, like bombs. That’s cool. I don’t have anyone to talk about bombs with usually. Or knives come to think of it. You think they like knives?”

Azu shrugged. “You’ll have to ask them. There is someone inside who likes knives though.” Azu grinned.

Sasha’s smile widened. “Really? Who?”

“Carter.” Azu struggled to hold in a laugh at Sasha’s expression. She patted Sasha on the shoulder. “It’s alright. He’s gotten better, believe me.” 

“We’ll see about that,” Grizzop said, rolling his eyes. “Come on then.” He strode forwards, taking the lead as they made their way up the stone pathway. 

Sasha stopped dead in the doorway. Sitting at the table and standing around the room were quite a few people for the size of the cabin, many of whom she didn’t know, but there were four she did. Barnes and Carter were arguing over something Carter stole. And sitting at the table next to each other were Wilde and Zolf. As Grizzop, Hamid, and Azu entered the conversations quieted and people turned to look at the entrance. 

“Wilde, Carter.” Grizzop nodded to each of them. “I don’t think I’ve had the pleasure of being introduced to the rest of you.”

Cel perked up. “Oh, well I’m Cel (you probably knew that already I just told you)!” They pointed to each person as they spoke. “That’s Zolf,” Zolf gave a little wave. “Kiko,” Kiko was standing by Azu holding her hand. She smiled as Cel called her name. “Barnes,” Cel winked at him and he flushed furiously. 

“Hello,” Barnes said after a moment, remembering himself.

“And Skraak,” Cel finished. Skraak nodded sagely. 

“Zolf,” Sasha almost whispered it, but in the quiet that followed Cel’s introductions it was heard by all. He looked away. Wilde took his hand and whispered something to him that Sasha couldn’t hear. She took a deep breath and walked over to him. Sasha gave him a hug. Zolf tensed for a moment before slowly relaxing into her embrace, awkward and unpracticed as it was. She let go almost as quickly as she had begun. 

“I’m, uh- I’m sorry, Sasha,” Zolf said softly, painfully aware of the attention on the two of them and how uncomfortable Sasha would be once she realized the same.

“It’s alright. I’m just glad you’re okay.”

Zolf stood up, putting a hand on Sasha’s arm. “Do you want to go somewhere? To talk?” He glanced at the others pointedly. Barnes returned to his spat with Carter and Azu turned to speak with Kiko, trying to give Sasha and Grizzop some space. Zolf led Sasha outside.

Meanwhile, Grizzop sat himself beside Wilde, waving at Hamid to grab a seat. He looked as though he was about to fall over with the slightest gust of wind. “Wilde,” Grizzop said, surveying the cabin’s interior.

“Grizzop,” Wilde replied with a genuine smile.

Grizzop narrowed his eyes. This wasn’t the Wilde he remembered but, Grizzop reminded himself, three years changes people, apocalyptic circumstances or no. “See you’ve got those cuffs off. Got your magic back too?”

Wilde cocked his head, his smile widening. “I’m surprised the first thing you do after your absence is ask after my health. To what am I to thank for this pleasure?” There was a bit of the old Wilde snark.

Grizzop fought back a grin. After the wrongness of Rome, this felt normal. “I did all that work to help you. Wanted to see you hadn’t wasted it.”

Wilde did a mock bow made even more awkward by his refusal to stand for it. “My everlasting gratitude.” He shrugged, leaning backward in his chair slightly. “Turns out dying releases you from an outstanding number of curses.”

Grizzop’s eyes widened to the size of golf balls. He forced out a laugh. “You’ve run out of material to make jokes of in the few years I’ve gone, Wilde?”

Wilde glanced at him. “No I-” he cut himself off. “Right. Yes. You  _ have  _ been... absent. Perhaps we should wait for Zolf to return with Sasha.” He craned his neck to see though the door but Zolf and Sasha were long gone. 

Grizzop crossed his arms and sighed. “Fine, but you aren’t getting out of telling me what happened  _ that  _ easily.”

Wilde smiled. “Wouldn’t dream of it.”

“You got legs,” Sasha said bluntly, glancing down at Zolf’s multicolored boots. He hadn’t had the heart to get rid of  _ that  _ particular memento of their trip.

“Wha?” Zolf glanced down at his feet. “Oh yeah.” He knocked on them just below the knee. They clanged dully. “Metal and magic.” They walked slowly down a winding path towards the slightly sloping cliffs. Not far below was a beach with the waves gently lapping at the rocks. The smell of salt drifted on the air, carried by the breeze and the shining turquoise waves. 

Sasha breathed in deeply as they took a seat on a bench at the cliff’s edge, overlooking the water. “So…” there was a long pause. 

“So?” Zolf prompted after a while.

Sasha gestured out at the ocean, searching for what she actually wanted to say. “So we won?”

“Looks like it.”

“Did you- How- What did you do when you left?” Sasha decided on.

Zolf didn’t seem surprised by the question. He’d likely known it was coming. Still, he took a moment before answering. There was only their quiet breathing and the rhythmic sound of the waves crashing against the shore until he began to speak. 

“I had a lot of questions. About myself and my faith.” Zolf huffed a laugh. “I’d like to say I went on a great pilgrimage to find myself, but the world went to hell before I really had a chance to. I started working with Curie and them, not to overthrow the Meritocrats or anythin’ just to figure out what was happening. I went looking for krakens. I’m almost certain they’re what wrecked my ship. Found ‘em too. Sort of.” Zolf glanced over at Sasha. She was staring at him as intently as when she picked a lock or disabled a trap. He’d missed that look from her.

“I met up with Wilde through the Harlequins once the plague spread from London and we-”

“ _ Plague?  _ ” Sasha exclaimed. 

Zolf put a hand on her arm. “In a moment, Sasha.” She nodded slowly, settling into herself a bit more. “As I said, I started working with Wilde again. Trying to finish what we started with the Simulacrum now that you, Azu, and Hamid were gone. I still haven’t really finished figuring out,” he gestured at the air around them, “this. But I am still working on it.” Zolf smiled. “If I never figure it out, well, that’ll still be fine.”

“ _ Plague  _ ?” Sasha said again. 

Zolf’s grin widened slightly. He stood up and Sasha did the same. “Come on, Sasha. We better tell you and Grizzop the rest of the story.”

They sat or stood around the table. Sasha sat in between Grizzop and Hamid. Grizzop was squished between her and Azu. Zolf sat next to Wilde at the head. Kiko stood behind Azu. Barnes sat next to Cel, and so on. It was a tight fit, all of them in that small living room but they made it work. 

Wilde and Zolf began first, telling them what had happened without Azu and Hamid. The riots in Other London, the slowly spreading certainty that something was wrong, the disappearance of the Meritocrats, the blue veins. Azu and Hamid picked up when they came back, Zolf, Wilde, and Cel adding in details about the Shoin Institute when needed. They talked about meeting up with Earhart and the city in the Northern Wastes. They told them about the deaths, Zolf gripping Wilde’s hand tight as he described the crash. No one said anything about what they’d seen in getting their friend’s back. It was too personal. Sasha and Grizzop didn’t ask. The years passed by in a blur of story and anecdote. By the end Sasha and Grizzop felt that they knew the new people around the room.

There was a pause after Zolf finished with the building of the cabin, nearly 2 months ago now. The adventure was over, though it was clear there was more to be said.

“That’s- uh… That’s a lot,” Sasha said, sitting back in her chair. 

“We are, we,” Azu glanced at Hamid, who nodded. “We’re not done.” Sasha cocked her head to the side, waiting for Azu to continue. Azu glanced back and forth between Zolf, Hamid, and Wilde. “Help me,” she whispered after nearly a minute of false starts and stuttering. 

Zolf reached below the table and plopped a small box down onto it with a thud. “We got these,” he said, taking off the lid to reveal a stack of letters. Sasha and Grizzop leaned forward to examine them.

“That’s my writing,” Sasha said hesitantly. She leafed through a few. “That’s my writing. A bit messy, but it’s mine.”

“You got sent back 2,000 years give or take,” Hamid said. “We got these from the Harlequins. The- the temple of Aphrodite had them and you-” he started to get choked up. 

Grizzop was also leafing through the letters, taking a little less care than Sasha with the ancient paper. “D’you keep mine in a separate box or something?” he asked without looking up.

“You didn’t write any,” Wilde said gently. Grizzop glanced up at him. There was an uncharacteristic shine in Wilde’s eyes, as though he was on the verge of tears.

“That’s ridiculous. At the very least I would’ve written to Vesseek.”

“You couldn’t.” Wilde was crying slightly now. Silently, with just a few tears slipping out, but he was. Grizzop glanced around. Sasha was still intent on the letters, brow furrowed as she read through them. Hamid was crying, as was Azu. 

“Guys?”

Sasha glanced up then. Her eyes widened in confusion. “What’s going on?” She waved one of the letters in the air. “This says that- that” She faltered.

“Sasha?” Grizzop glanced at her, then back to Azu and Hamid. “Azu, Hamid?”

“You-” Hamid sputtered a little.

“I wasn’t supposed to make it back was I?”

The words fell like a weight in the room. For what felt like forever, no one moved or spoke beyond breathing and a few silent tears.

Zolf put a hand on Grizzop’s shoulder. “I don’t think so.”

Sasha was back to scanning the papers in her hand. “Grizzop, what’s a paladin sacrifice?”

Grizzop’s ears drooped further.

Sasha didn’t press him on it. The message was clear enough.

Azu held out her arms. Sasha, Hamid, and Grizzop fell in in unison. They stood there for a while, blissfully unaware of the people watching them. After a minute or so Wilde stood and put a hand on Sasha’s shoulder.

“We’ve built a life worth living here.” Sasha blinked up at him. “We can help you do the same.”

And Wilde always kept his word. 

**Author's Note:**

> I hope you liked it, I had a ton of fun writing this. I'm over on Tumblr @iwillsithereandtrytocontribute.


End file.
